1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a personal computer mouse and more particularly to a personal computer mouse which is compact and easy to carry and which can be simply and quickly operated.
2. Description of the Related Art
A personal computer mouse is provided with a pointer function in which a mouse pointer shown on the screen of a personal computer is moved, a left click function in which instructions are given from a left button, a right click function in which instructions are given from a right button, and a scroll function in which instructions are given from the central wheel, etc.
In the pointer function, the mouse pointer on the screen is instructed to move in the same way as the movement of a mouse on a flat surface. Then, in accordance with a method for detecting the movement of a mouse, there are a mechanical mouse in which the detection is performed by reading the rotation of a ball, an optical mouse in which the change of an image is detected by an emission center of a light emitting diode and a photoreceiver provided, a laser mouse in which a laser light is used as a light source, etc.
Regarding the click functions and the scroll function, as is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-154800, instructions are generally given by the left and right buttons and the central wheel. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, in a personal computer mouse 101, a left button 110 normally performing a click and drag and a right button 120 used for a shortcut menu, etc., are disposed left and right. Then, a wheel 130 to be used in scrolling a screen is disposed in the middle of both buttons.
However, there is a problem in that the conventional personal computer mouse 101 is too large in size. In particular, since the left button 110 and the right button 120 are put side by side and operated by the first finger and the second finger, the width becomes too large. Then, when it is used in a personal computer, it is very much inconvenient to carry that.
Furthermore, regarding the scroll function, since the amount of scrolling is in proportion to the rotation of the wheel 130, when the number of pages is large, there is a problem in that the amount of movement of fingers becomes too much.
Moreover, regarding the right clock function, since it is performed using the second finger, there is a problem in that a great amount of skill is required for the operation. Furthermore, since a large mouse is grabbed and moved while it is pressed downward, there is a problem in that the operator gets easily tired.